Leather Furniture; Yes or No

Leather furniture is popular for a reason, well many reasons actually. It is hard wearing, compared to fabric furniture, it is easier to clean and maintain, it’s comfortable and let’s face it leather looks great (well not always but as a rule of thumb it does, there are some truly gaudy leather furniture items out there, but each to their own).

So with so many bonuses what are the down sides? Well it can be comfortable, but it can be very cold when first sat on and in hot weather unpleasant (this depends on the leather normally). It can be noisy and creaky if it is tighter pulled and stitched leather (more common in older more traditional sofas and chairs). It is generally very expensive and there is always the fact it simply is ‘leather’ and we all know what leather is made from, so there is the ethical issue as well.

So what to do, well we aren’t going to judge someone for buy leather or not, that is a personal choice and nothing to do with us, we are just pointing out a there are alternatives. We sell leather furniture, and we sell fake leather furniture, we believe in offering choice.

Fake leather, imitation leather, or as it is most commonly know today ‘faux leather’ (mainly as it sounds less tacky) is very popular and unless you are something of an expert it is often difficult to tell the difference. This can of course depend on the quality of faux leather used in the piece of home furniture in question, but good quality material is very comparable to the real deal – hardwearing, easy to clean and comfortable. Sure it will normally fall short of high quality leather in its aspects, but not too far behind, and this is not a given (cheap leather may even be surpassed!)

So what can we offer those looking for a choice, well lets see!

For the lounge we have a selection of living room furniture but we will just show and alternative for each case.

For the leather side there is the Seattle collection which features a stylish leather tub chair, leather tub sofa and matching ‘Kube’ which is a leather faced cube shape perfect as a stool or a footstool and matches the Bonanza Leather design of the chair and sofa.

For the faux leather side once again there is the Seattle tub chair, which is in a brown traditional leather effect design, but otherwise emulates the real leather chair in shape and size. If you are after a chair with matching sofa, there is the London collection which comprises of a classic designed tub style sofa and matching tub chair in a brown faux leather finish, it is very impressive to say the least.

Moving over to the dining furniture area we have our two best sellers on each side of the line the Cornell leather dining chair range and the Guinness faux leather dining chair range. Both of these are identical in design; both are classic rollback dining chairs with comfortable padded backs and sprung seats, each is built on a solid wood frame. The differences are that the Cornell dining chairs are finished in quality leather and the Guinness dining chairs in impressive faux leather. To the Average Joe they are going to appear the same, but a closer look and you can tell, just, that they are different, but either is a fine addition to a dining room.

So there you go, with just a brief look at our ranges we found some good cases for leather furniture and for faux leather furniture, at the en of the day its down to you, but we just wanted you to know that there is always a choice, and that is what matters the most.

Dining Furniture Solutions

Summer is still here; well kind of! The unpredictable rain seems to be putting a literal damper on that. But now and then we still get the odd day we can fire up the barbecue and get friends round in the garden for some drinks and food. But with the year past the half way mark (seems to have flown by) and with that the colder weather and darker nights just a month or so away it will soon be time to put away the garden furniture and think about taking any get-togethers indoors.

So we thought it might be time to look at what Furniture Store 247 can offer those looking for a new dining set, or some dining furniture, for the more festive season, or party season, on its way and the parties, meals and family gatherings that are fairly inevitable.

Now people will think, “Hang on its nearly 5 months until Christmas” but a few things to remember; those months will fly past, you don’t want to be buying new furniture as your buying gifts and presents, the festive season tends to begin its run in October with many people having Halloween parties, then bonfire night, then Christmas and new year, and it’s always better to plan ahead. Now sure not all of those may be a sit down meal, but many people prefer a nice dinner over a full blown party (and it saves on damage from drunken guests dancing!).

So if you really want to have some new furniture in time for Christmas and New Year, if nothing else (and those with American heritage might want a thanksgiving dinner party), then really you need to think about it now.

So what options does Furniture Store 247 have to offer you? Well we can break it down into dining sets, dining tables, dining chairs and dining furniture such as sideboards.

Now most people will be looking for a complete dining set (table and chairs), and we have a few quality choices in this respect. Depending on your styling we have minimal, modern and traditional.

Minimal – Both the Denver oak dining set, and the Oakleigh dining set both fill this criteria nicely, with the Oakleigh set adding a traditional touch and the Denver set a more modern feel. Both come with matching dining chairs with comfy padded seats, though the Denver is only available with 6 chairs with a standard table, whereas the Oakleigh set has 2 differing sizes of extendable tables with 6 or 8 dining chairs dependant on the table chose.

Modern – Well the Denver covers the modern bracket as well, but along with this there is the Ella glass dining set with 6 matching chairs, and the Bella beech and silver dining set this time with 4 chairs that match the design. However we also have many sets that feature the Guinness faux leather dining chair range or the Cornell leather dining chair range. These almost identical ranges (except for the material obviously) bring a very stylish, sleek and modern look to any dining table and that why we have a big range of tables to go with them, extendable and standard.

Traditional – The Trafalgar rustic oak dining set is the way to go here. Made from the finest oak, with a medium size twin leaf extending table and complete with 6 solid oak ladder-back dining chairs this epitomises style and quality with a traditional almost country living look.

Now there are more choices but these are full sets as opposed to buying them individually, but an example of one of our best selling traditional collections would be the Irish Coast range, made from reclaimed Baltic Pine with a choice of 2 types of matching chairs this is a stunning traditional styled range.

Then of course there are extras such as sideboards, not essential, but they can add a perfect touch to a dining room, and can be invaluable for storing extras for you dinner party, from bottles of wine, to serving trays or platters that you don’t want to clutter the table with.

Now I could go on and on, but it’s best you just have a look for yourself, just follow the link to our dining furniture section at our website and your bound to find something you like.

Oakleigh Furniture Vs Trafalgar Rustic Oak Furniture

Furniture Store 247 has a couple of good recommendations if you are looking for some traditional styled furniture for your home.

First up we have the new best selling rustic oak furniture range by Trafalgar Furniture. I’ve talked about this before but I’m going to mention what the positives and negatives of this range over our other best selling traditional furniture range from Oakleigh Furniture.

Well both of these sets have a full range of occasional furniture. What’s occasional furniture? Occasional furniture is these pieces of furniture that can really go anywhere such as end tables, or lamp tables, display cabinets and bookcases, console tables and sideboards. Any of these will add a classic touch to a living room, hallway, bedroom or dining room.

Other occasional furniture in both the Oakleigh range and the Trafalgar rustic oak range includes coffee tables, TV units and cabinets and hi-fi units, but these are more aimed at just the living room or lounge (though they can accent a bedroom furniture set very nicely).

Both of these quality furniture ranges have dining tables, extendable dining tables and matching dining chairs. Both also have a variety of sideboards in large and small sizes, but the Trafalgar rustic oak range has a little more versatility in its range of console tables (one of which even integrates a wine rack).

When it comes to the bedroom, both Oakleigh and Trafalgar furniture have most of the bases covered but shine in areas where the other lacks to a degree. Both sets have beds that match, but where Trafalgar only has a double bed and a king size bed, Oakleigh have s single bed too. Both have various wardrobes, tall boys and drawer chests, Trafalgar provide 2 differing types of dressing tables/desks with a matching stool, which Oakleigh does not.

So both these furniture ranges offer traditional styling that can be used throughout the home; Oakleigh being finished in solid ash, whereas Trafalgar have the rustic oak finish. Both offer a few minor extra pieces of furniture to the other as mentioned above, though nothing really deal-breaking. Finally the Oakleigh range is perhaps a little less expensive than the rustic Oak range from Trafalgar.

However in summary the positives and negatives are so minimal, you can be sure either of these ranges will provide you with quality furniture that can benefit your home. So at the end of the day it’s just comes down to personal tastes, inevitably the choice is yours.

How Furniture Store 247 Could Save You Money

The credit crunch is here, people don’t want to spend excess money so here at Furniture Store 247 we have low prices on our Guinness dining chairs and Cornell dining chairs to help you equip your dining room with quality furniture at great prices.

Our dining chairs are comfy and high backed to give you a comfortable seat while protecting your posture. The dining chairs modern designs suit any dining room and even complement more traditional tables.

The Cornell dining chair range is made from quality leather with the frame crafted from solid ash. The leather is soft and as with all leather will gain character with age. The dining chair comes ready assembled.

For those on a budget or who prefer faux leather we have the Guinness dining chair range. This is a rollback dining chair with a solid timber frame. The Guinness dining chair is quite high backed with a sprung seat and we deliver it part assembled for ease of delivery which means you have very little to do before you can use it.

The Cornell dining chairs and Guinness dining chairs come in various colours including red, black, ivory and brown. The dining chairs are available in sets of six and they are also sold separately. So remember if you are looking to save money on quality furniture have a look at Furniture Store 247.

Dining Room Dilemmas

It has to be said that when we look around houses built recently there seems to be something missing… A dining room. Dining rooms are commonplace in old Victorian style properties but seem to be lacking in the building of modern houses replaced by a space in the corner of a living room or kitchen. Many people now don’t even own a dining room set, they are content to eat their meals from the kitchen counter or sat on the sofa, a lack of a dining room means people can’t physically eat at the same time due to lack of space. Mealtimes used to be a social time, a catch up of the days events. Without a dining room the chance to discuss the day and chat disappears into watching the news or a soap.

When they do exist Dining rooms raise issues for homeowners. Should they furnish it within the style of the property using Traditional style Dining tables or use a modern style dining room set or even a breakfast bar.

When furnishing a dining room, people often think what else can I put in the dining room apart from a table, the space is often seen as a wasted space. Sideboards fill this empty space, look good and provide handy storage for all the cutlery and plates while they are not in use. The sideboards provide space for the display of ornaments and family pictures which would look out of space elsewhere

A lack of a dining room can often be problematic for homeowners, often there is no room for a dining table. One solution to this problem can be the use of extendable tables. These can be opened out for meal times and folded away to save space in the corner of a kitchen or living room. Another solution could be the use of a breakfast bar which are generally smaller and take up less room.

So, if a dining room exists there exists a great deal of choice to fill the space and if there is no dining room, extendable tables provide a great alternative to sitting on the sofa and eating your meal off a tray.

Dining Room Chairs....... Everywhere!

Dining room chairs. They’re very simple and standard piece of dining room furniture; a core part really. If you have a dining room (and yes, some people don’t) then you’re going to have dining chairs and if not well you’re probably going to need them.

So what choices are there out there? Well that’s the thing, there are so many. Assuming you don’t need an entire dining room suite and you have the dining table already and maybe even sideboards, then you need the right chairs to compliment them.

Surely it can’t be that hard though? Well that’s the thing; buying new dining chairs can be easy, assuming you aren’t to concerned what they look like. The thing is almost all of us do care. We all tend to have very specific tastes and want our house to look like our ideal image. So much so that we’ll often not buy that matching dining table and chairs as we only like the look of the dining table, or the dining chairs.

One such influence on why we have these newer ideals is media input. Shows we see on TV demonstrate different ways and styles to make you home look special and unique, or even ways to spiritually harmonise your rooms.

Back to the dining chairs where do we start? Well you have your different materials to start with; wood or metal? If it’s wood are we looking for hardwood, ash, oak, pine beech or something else, even within those there are different types of oak and hardwood, and of course do we want these veneered or natural?

Metal has a few less choices as typically it will be a chrome effect or perhaps a brushed aluminium finish. Of course there are also combinations of metal and wood dining chairs, just to make things more varied.

Then there is the upholstering. It’s rare a dining chair is going to be simply wood or metal. You have various materials such from leather, suede and cotton, to leather-look and faux leather.

Finally the design, do you go for classic, contemporary, modern, retro or something in between? The amount of designs available in dining room chairs in almost limitless, so having an idea of what you want will always help point you in the right direction.

So to sum up, yes it can be daunting finding the right dining chairs, but the reason is because the wealth of choice and having such an open palette to choose from can only be a good thing as it allows you to add that individual stamp to your dining room.

For a vast range of dining chairs visit www.furniturestore247.co.uk. Our stock includes wooden and metal frames, with various styles upholstery (our leather look Guinness Chairs are one of our best sellers and very popular) and chair designs to suit your needs.